Soldiers clearing up the ground at the gas explosions site in the southern Kaohsiung city on August 2, 2014. A series of powerful gas blasts killed at least 25 people and injured up to 267, overturning cars and ripping up roads as terrified residents fled an inferno. -- PHOTO: AFP

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan on Sunday named Mr Woody Duh Tyzz-Jiun as economics minister, after his predecessor resigned in the aftermath of a gas explosion that killed 30 people and injured more than 300.

Mr Chang Chia-juch, who took his post in February 2013, submitted his resignation on Thursday after a series of gas blasts ripped through several city blocks in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second-largest city, late on July 31.

The Executive Yuan, or Cabinet, on Sunday said in a statement that Premier Chang Yi-huah had accepted Mr Chang's decision to go despite efforts to persuade him to stay at his post. The two are not related.